Closing Bell: Fundraiser for the Broken Angel Museum

Could there be a happy ending to the very sad story of Bed Stuy’s Broken Angel? Yesterday Gothamist reported that a Kickstarter campaign has begun in an effort to turn the idiosyncratic building, recently foreclosed upon, into a museum. The goal is to raise $50,000. For $20, you can submit an art piece on one square inch of paper to be displayed at Broken Angel. The project is called “Broken Angel Squared.” As the Kickstarter says, “The first $50,000.00 will be used to safeguard the art collection that will eventually be housed in the muesum. This includes Arthur Wood’s work in addition to the pieces submitted as part of Broken Angel Squared. All submitted pieces will be archived and preserved for display.”Help Save Brooklyn’s Broken Angel Building [Gothamist]Broken Angel Squared [Kickstarter]

Habitat for Humanity might be a better operational model than Kickstarter. Instead of paying $20 to display a one square-inch work of “art,” how ’bout I kick in cash and a mess of sweat equity and get an apartment in the end? Was that too self-centered?

No Permits, I like the after. But you do bring up a good point. Does the city own it now? Did it sell at auction? The museum and this particular exhibit sounds like a great idea but who owns the building? (I’m too lazy to read or look it up.)

“The first $50,000.00 will be used to safeguard the art collection that will eventually be housed in the muesum. This includes Arthur Wood’s work in addition to the pieces submitted as part of Broken Angel Squared. All submitted pieces will be archived and preserved for display.”

Um, OK I donate my art, AND $20 so someone can “preserve” and later display it?

buried int he middle of the kickstarter page is: “The first $50,000.00 will be used to safeguard the art collection that will eventually be housed in the museum.”

but the tone of the entirety of the page is talking about helping to turn the building into a museum.

In fact, the entire kickstarter has little to do with the building itself (this is a real estate blog after all), except for the fact that the “museum” is predicated on separate funding that is not mentioned and not secured, and while you don’t own the building, you also have no idea if the current owner would even entertain such discussions.

I get that you want to save your dad’s artwork, that’s cool, just be more direct otherwise it seems disingenuous or sneaky.